People in Contact with Criminal Justice Systems Participating in Service Redesign: Vulnerable Citizens or Democratic Partners?

Abstract

This chapter presents a conceptual consideration of the centrality of ‘voice’ in the Criminal Justice System (CJS), particularly in respect of service development. The hidden perspectives of those who are ‘subject to’, working with or working in the CJS represent important aspects to consider when seeking to change, develop or evaluate services. After emphasising the turn to including the voices of those often excluded from participation we explore aspects of the contested concept of ‘vulnerability’ as a label often applied to those working with CJS. We widen this to consider the vulnerabilities by association that professional take on as popular discourses permeate perceptions of CJS cultures. Subsequently, we examine some of the ways in which the inclusion of hidden and potentially vulnerable voices of those citizens involved with CJS can assist the transformative development of services by irritating the normative perspectives. We advocate an approach based around critical ethnography as a means of sitting with and walking besides people intimately involved in CJS.

Experiences of Vulnerability in Adult Male Prisoners: An Integrative Review

“…The predominant perspective of vulnerability is the etic perspective, a fact resulting from the power of the "expert" professional voice versus the contrasting "silenced" voice of the individual service user (Parker et al, 2020). Heaslip et al (2016) argued elsewhere for a fusion of the emic and etic, a so-called "etemic" or fused perspective combining the advantages of both perspectives which acknowledges the individual's voice (the prisoner) alongside the professional discourse (e.g., prison officer or psychologist).…”